


A traumatizing first death

by PetiteOuest



Category: The Old Guard (Comics), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Fucked Up, Gen, Origin Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:13:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27502108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PetiteOuest/pseuds/PetiteOuest
Summary: An exploration of what probably happened after Booker's first death. He was stuck in the snow for a long time.
Kudos: 14





	A traumatizing first death

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy. I'd like to think this is a pretty accurate description of what would happen to an immortal during a Russian winter. Arguably pretty dark, so viewer descression is advised.

This was a mistake. A god awful mistake. 

Sébastien was forcefully recruited to the French army, forced to March through one hell of a war he had never planned to take part in. 

Things got so much worse once Napoleon realized that the Russian people were willing to starve themselves before letting anyone successfully invade. 

Sebastien realized that this war was futile and the French army was going to lose, they all realized it, but no one was going to say it out loud. 

Some men decide to run, Sebastian was one. Fate was not on their side when the were caught not long after. 

The army stripted the treasonous soldiers of anything valuable, and hanged them. None survive, frozen stiff. 

But then, one man woke up. He would struggle if he wasn't frozen, he was thankful later on. Things could have been so much worse if he could have moved. 

He slowly died of asphyxiation again and again. Having strange dreams of drowning in a coffin and three strange people speaking odd languages he's never heard of before. 

Three days pass before the legion moved on. Days of silent torture. Death upon death. This could have been Hell. Being tortured endlessly by freezing and choking. 

He was not sure how he managed to get free from the noose, but was unable to get far. He faced the impossible task of thawing out in -25 weather, and so he was stuck, right below the still hanging bodies of fellow deserters. 

Snow continues to fall, encasing Sebastien in snow. He continues to die over and over again with no sweet release of endless slumber. He continues to wake up, to start the cycle all over again. 

Not long, a new type of death starts: asphyxiation. The snow above him getting heavier and heavier. 

This was Hell, he was sure of it. An impossible situation to get out of with more and more weight added for what feels like everyday, unable to move a finger. 

The nightmare of drowning and the strangers quickly became a break in routine and a welcome distraction respectively. It was almost a relief when they appeared. The strangers sometimes offered a slice of their lives or sometimes a battle. Sebastien was enraptured with it all, the love, the battle, the alcohol. They offered a beautiful world to watch and experience, unlike anything he's ever seen. He hoped against all hope that he could meet them one day. Hopefully, they weren't a figment of his imagination. They brought a much needed distraction tethering him to what little sanity he could grasp to. 

The isolation he felt after those dreams was crushing. He hasnt heard a single soul the entire time right off of the trail. None of the army has returned. Did the army succeed, or did they all die? What was worse? He decided he wasn't going to think about it. 

Days, weeks, months continued to pass. Snow continues to pile on with small breaks of warm days wear it rains. He soon realized he hated warm days. They were a sick prank to entice him to move. He tried. And he tried. The snow on top became heavier and heavier, soon became unbearably heavy with each rainfall. 

Frozen, crushed and asphyxiated, and depending on the rainfall, drowned too. 

An eternity later, he was crushed and drowned more often than frozen. He deduced maybe, just maybe this already endless winter was finally ending. Sebastien decided it was time to try and dig himself out. The constant drowning became far too much, real or dream. 

The snow was crystallized and sharp now, it felt nearly impossible to dig through with Sebastien so weak. Starvation, dehydration on top of everything made the task harder than anything he had done. 

Finally, after several days of working, he saw light for the first time in months. He was out of the snow. He just needed some shelter. He huddled under some fallen trees he found after stumbling around for a few yards. Death doesnt come nearly as quickly, he counts what little blessings he has. 

A month passes by before its warm enough to start moving. Barely. If pressed, he still couldn't remember how he found the energy to move at all. All Booker knew is that he was in the Ottoman Empire by the time it was smoldering outdoors. 

Of course, nearly naked, severely malnourished, sunburnt, and not to mention dirty. 

He couldn't believe he was out of the god forsaken ice. Nothing felt real, he was in civilization. He would weep tears of joy if he could find the energy. He stumbled to the nearest alleyway and slumped against the wall. He slept for nearly two days. He woke from two dawns since he stumbled in the night. A blissfully quiet rest, free from nightmares. 

No one bothered him, he didn't mind, enjoying the hustle and bustle of everyday life he missed for what felt like lifetimes. Hell it might as well have been. 

"Vas-tu te réveillé?" A voice called to him from the alley entrance. Sebastien looked up from his spot, not sure if he was getting kicked out or reprimanded, or both. 

The person waiting was not someone Booker ever thought he would meet in real life, thinking she was a part of his mind to stop from going insane. His eyes wide, mouth agape, he nodded. He probably shouldn't have been so surprised to hear her speak French due to how many languages they all seemed to speak, but it was still jarring. 

The woman was tall dark haired and imposing, just like in his dreams. She nodded at him, signaling him to follow. 

Sebastien stumbled to his feet, in a daze. He couldn't believe this was real. He wondered where the other two men were, how did she find him? Questions flew through his mind but his mouth was not fast enough to ask any of them. Instead, as the mystery woman started walking away, he bolted after her, moving with more vigour than he has since getting arrested. For the first time he felt like he had hope.


End file.
